Leveling bar for coke ovens



1933. c. E. UNDERWOOD LEVELING BAR FOR COKE OVENS Filed Jan. 8, 1932Jrwe'ntoz Patented Dec. 5, 1933 LEVELING BAR FOR cons ovENs Charles E.Underwood, Bethlehem, Pa., assignor to Bethlehem Steel Company; acorporation of Pennsylvania Application January 8, 1932. Serial No.585,439 14 Claims. (01. 212-23) This invention relates to leveling barsfor coke ovens, and it has particular relation to constructionalfeatures thereof.

Anobject of this invention is to provide a leveling bar that will leveloff a charge of coal in less time than will a bar such as iscornmonlyused.

.Another object is to provide a leveling bar that is comparatively lightin weight yet very rigid and economical to construct.

A still further object is to provide a leveling bar that will not easilyclog.

Leveling bars for coke ovens consist ordinarily of a doubleframework ofstructural steel. Generally, the structure consists of a. pair of spacedside members with spacing members that operate to distribute thechargeof coal along the length of the oven; Due to confining nature of theside pieces and the several spacing pieces, the. coal frequently becomeswedged or lodged therebetween which greatly reduces its efiiciency. Alsothe box like structure tends to confine the material instead ofdistributing it. quickly and efficiently. Y r

In accordance with myinvention, the leveling bar comprises a central webmember to which are attached a plurality of wingpieces that project fromthe web to form pocketshaving openings extending outwardly fromeach'side of the web, thereby reducing the tendency to clog or choke upwith material. In order to obtain lateral stifiness, a series of rodsare attached longitudinally of the web in the form of trusses whichoverlap 01' stagger each other. These truss rodsalso assist in theleveling of the charge due to their tooth like formation which have acutting or rasping effect on the charge as the leveler is reciprocated.

This bar may be applied to any reciprocating apparatus used for thispurpose, and due to its particular construction much time is saved inthe leveling operation, and operating costs are materially reduced duetoits increased efliciency.

- Other objects and novel features of my invention will be hereinaftermore fully described.

In the accompanying drawing:

Figs. 1 and 2 are respectively plan and side elevational views of aleveling bar constructed in accordance with my invention;

Fig. 3 is an enlarged plan view of a portion of the leveling bar; and

Fig. 4 isa sectional view taken on line IV-IV of Fig. 3. l

The leveler comprises a central web member or bar 5 to which areattached a number of longitudinally spaced wing plates 6 on oppositesides plates and rods to the central bar.

truss rods;

of the bar. These plates are welded to the bar along their inner edgesas shown at 11 in Fig. 4.

. Referring to Fig. 1 it will be noted that rods '7 and 8 comprise theupper trusses, and rods 9 and 10 the lower trusses. 1 Rod '7 starts nearthe forward end 12, of the bar, while rod 8 is started midway of thefirst truss formed by rod 7. The bottom rod 10 starts near the forwardend of the bar but rod 9 starts at the same point as rod 8. The rods arecarried over and under the .wing plates in such a manner so as to formaseries of trusses extending substantially the whole length of the bar.It will be noted that the rods 7 and 8 forming the upper trusses runparallel, likewise the-rods 9 and 10 that form the lower trusses areparallel but run in the opposite direction to the upper trusses. By thisarrangement the upper and lower trusses cross or stagger each other thusforming a series of reticular openings 13 on each side of the bar 6 whenviewedfrom the top or bottom of theleveler.

Figs. 3 and 4 show the arrangement of the various' members and themanner of fastening the Plates 6 are notched at their diagonallyopposite corners 14 and 15 so as to form seats or bearings for. the Therods are welded at their points tozthe plates and to thecentral bar, andthe plates themselves are welded to the bar thus forming a rigid andunitary openwork structure that is comparatively light but very rigidfor its length. One of the reasons why this leveler is light yet rigid,is due to the fact that the central bar is imperforate. No bolts orrivets are used to fasten the wing platesand struts to the bar whichwould tend 'to weaken the bar section, thus allowing a section ofminimum proportions to be used for this purpose. The vertical strengthof the bar is obtained from its depth of section, while its transversestrength is obtained by means of the trussed rods. By this constructionthe full value of the bending resistance of the bar section is preservedthroughout the major portion of its length. Obviously the section 'ofthe bar may be either a plain rectangular shape of constant section, orit may be made of a plurality of pieces secured together to obtain thesame result. However, a single rectangular section is preferable becauseit is easily obtained. By keeping down the weight 1.05

of the leveler bar, its inertia is greatly reduced thereby reducingpower consumption and shock to the reciprocating mechanism when thedirection of movement of thebar is reversed. V

The forward end of the bar is tapered as shown 1.10

at 16 and is provided with a shoe plate 17 which tends to lift theforward end of the bar as it is pushed through the charge in the oven.

The rear end 18 of the bar is adapted to be secured to the reciprocatingmechanism of a leveling machine.

Owing to the manner of charging an oven, the pulverized coal forms intoconical heaps. The object of the leveler is to level oil these heaps.Heretofore this work was accomplished with a leveler leaving a box likestructure which was slow in its leveling action due to the fact that thestructure confined the charge between its side pieces.

When using a leveler according to my invention this objection isovercome as the pockets formed by the wing plates are open on theoutside which allows the coal to be freely discharged therefrom. Inaddition to the advantages obtained by the open sided pockets, is theeffect of the angular truss bar upon the charge as they are moved backand forth through the charge to be leveled.

The inclination of the rods tend to agitate and laterally push thematerial away from the central bar thus adding greatly to the efficiencyof the leveler with the result that much time is saved in leveling anoven, thereby materially reducing power and operating costs.

Various modifications obviously may be made in the details of theforegoing construction without departing from the spirit of theinvention as embodied in the appended claims.

Having thus described my invention what I claim as new and desire tosecure by Letters Patent is:

1. A leveling bar for coke ovens comprising a web-member and reinforcingmeans connected to said web so as to form passages for the material tobe leveled.

2. A leveling bar, forcoke ovens comprising a web member andlongitudinally trussed members connected to .said web on each sidethereof to stilfen the web and to produce a spreading effect upon thematerial when the baris reciprocated therethrough.

3. A leveling bar for coke ovens comprising a web member, and a seriesof wing members projecting from each side of said web and fixed theretoso as to form vertical pockets for the material to be leveled, saidpockets opening :outwardly from each side of the web member.

4. A leveling bar for coke ovens comprising a web member, spaced wingplates connected to said web, and reinforcing means'connected to saidweb and to said plates so as to form a series of trusses on each side ofsaid web member whereby to stifien the web and to produce a cuttingeffect upon the material to be leveled when reciprocated therethrough.

5. A leveling bar for coke ovens comprising a single web member, and aseries of reinforcing members connected to said web so as to formreticular passages for the material to be leveled.

6. A leveling bar for coke ovens comprising a web member, and an upperand lower series of reinforcing members connected to said web so as toform reticular passages for the material to be leveled.

7. A leveling bar for coke ovens comprising a web member, and an upperand lower series of angularly formed members connected to each side ofsaid web in staggered relation so as to form reticular passages for thematerial to be leveled.

8. A leveling bar for coke ovens comprising a central bar and aplurality of sinuously formed reinforcing bars extending longitudinallyof said central bar so as to form a unitary structure having reticularopenings on each side of the central bar so as to provide passages forthe material to be leveled.

9. A leveling bar for coke ovens comprising a central bar, and upper andlower series of longitudinally extending angularly formed bars connectedto each side of said central bar, said upper and lower series of barsbeing in staggered relation so as to form reticular openings relative tothe vertical axis of the central bar for the passage of material whenthe leveler is reciprocated therethrough.

10. A leveling bar for coke ovens comprising a web member, spaced wingplates connected to said web, and a plurality of angularly formed barsconnected to said web and to the outer corners of said plates so as toform a series of open trusses on each side of said web member for thepassage of material to be leveled and to produce a cutting and levelingeffect upon the material when the bar is reciprocated therethrough.

11. A leveling bar for coke ovens comprising a web member, spaced wingplates connected to said web, said plates being notched at diagonallyopposite corners, and rods connected to said web and to the notchedcorners of said plates so as to form trusses on opposite sides of saidweb member.

12. A leveling barfor coke ovens comprising a web member, spaced wingplates connected to said web, each plate having a notch at one of itsouter corners and another at its inner corner, sinuously formed rodsconnected to the outside corner of one plate and to the inside corner ofan adjacent plate so as to form a series of staggered trusses one overthe other for the web member.

13. A leveling bar for coke ovens comprising a central supportingmember, rods positioned longitudinally of said member so as to reinforcethe same against lateral flexure and to produce a cutting or levelingefiect upon the material to be leveled when operatively positioned.

14;. A leveling bar for coke ovens comprising a central supportingmember, wing plates secured to each side of said member, longitudinalrods connected to said central member and to said plates so as toreinforce said central member against fiexure and to produce a lateralmovement of the material when the leveler is reciprocated through thematerial to be leveled.

CHARLES E. UNDERWOOD.

